TOMS RIVER, NJ – The State of New Jersey has failed a young boy and his mother in Ocean County, and now he is dead.
A Monroe man who was suspected of killing his own six-year-old son in Barnegat last spring has been officially indicted by a grand jury after being freed from jail under New Jersey’s bail reform laws after his arrest earlier this year.
Worse than New Jersey’s bail reform laws allowing the suspect out of jail, the day before he killed his son, the state of New Jersey rejected the boy’s mother’s appeal for emergency custody.
Christopher Gregor, 30, of Monroe Township, was indicted by a grand jury in Ocean County on the charge of murder.
According to police reports, On April 2, 2021, officers from the Stafford Township Police Department responded to Southern Ocean Medical Center in reference to the death of a six-year-old male, identified as his son Corey Micciolo.
His mother, Breanna Micciolo had been trying to work with the New Jersey Department of Child Protection and Permanency (DCPP) for nearly a year to get sole custody of Corey after he often returned from visits with his father with bruises, scrapes, black eyes and even a bite mark, according to emails she sent to the agency during that time.
“He’s afraid of his father,” she told state social workers, who ignored her heartfelt and desperate pleas.
The day before his death, she took Corey to a doctor. At first, he said he fell off a treadmill and that some of the injuries were from falling on turf. Eventually, he broke down and told the doctor, asking the doctor not to tell anyone. His injuries came at the hand of his own father.
The next day, Micciolo filed an emergency application seeking custody. The judge ruled against her, saying the child was in no immediate danger and his mother failed to, “demonstrate that the minor child is in danger of imminent or irreparable harm.”
The next day, she was obligated to drop her son off with his father, knowing that he had been regularly beating him.
She received a call from Gregor saying Corey was ‘lethargic’ and took him to the hospital. He did not say which hospital and she frantically called all of the hospitals in the area to find out where. It was not until after Corey died that she was able to learn which hospital he was in. Gregor fled the state after dropping his dying son off a the hospital.
Later, a video emerged showing Gregor turning up the speed on a treadmill the boy was running until he fell. Gregor had commented that Corey was ‘fat’ and needed to lose weight.
According to court records, “On April 3, 2021, a post-mortem examination was performed by the Ocean County Medical Examiner’s Office, and it was determined that C.M. sustained injuries due to blunt force trauma. In the course of investigating the child’s death, Detectives from the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crime Unit, Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office High Tech Crime Squad, and Barnegat Township Police Department, discovered evidence that revealed that Gregor had committed acts of abuse against the child in Barnegat Township on March 20, 2021. “
He was arrested in July, but freed under New Jersey’s Bail Reform Act hours later.
Gregor has since denied he abused his son, saying he was only trying to make his son tougher.
As I have stated from the outset in July, Mr. Gregor had nothing to do with the death of this child. Although tragic, it must be remembered that the mother was not given custody of her own child for a reason,” his lawyer Mario F. Gallucci said in an interview with Law&Crime by Dan Abrams. “It took Ocean County prosecutor over eight months to finally find a forensic medical examiner; they had to pay to agree with their narrative. Once I receive the medical examiner’s reports, the county, and the hired gun, our expert will review it. Then the real reason behind this child’s tragic death will finally be revealed.”
Accordingly, Gregor was charged with Endangering the Welfare of a Child in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:24-4a(2), on July 7, 2021. Though initially lodged in the Ocean County Jail, Gregor was subsequently released as a consequence of New Jersey Bail Reform.
On March 3, 2022, the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office received a report from the State’s expert witness that indicated that C.M. died as a result of blunt force impact to the chest and abdomen, and determined the manner of the child’s death to be homicide. An extensive investigation conducted by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crime Unit, Barnegat Township Police Department, and Ocean County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Investigation Unit, revealed that C.M. was in the custody of Gregor at the time he sustained his life-ending injuries, and that Gregor was the individual responsible for the child’s death.
On March 9, 2022, Gregor was taken into custody by Detectives from the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Narcotics Strike Force, Sea Bright Police Department, and Barnegat Township Police Department. Gregor has been lodged in the Ocean County Jail since the date of his apprehension.
Prosecutor Billhimer acknowledges the diligent efforts of Supervising Assistant Prosecutor Christine Lento who presented the case to the Grand Jury on behalf of the State, and commends the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crime Unit, Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Special Victim’s Unit, Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office High Tech Crime Unit, Ocean County Prosecutor’s Economic Crimes Unit, Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Narcotics Strike Force, Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Victim Witness Advocacy Unit, Ocean County Sheriff’s Office, Ocean County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Investigation Unit, Barnegat Township Police Department, Stafford Township Police Department, Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office, Englishtown Police Department, Manalapan Township Police Department, Monroe Township Police Department, Sea Bright Police Department, New Jersey State Police, and Alcoa (Tennessee) Police Department, for their collective and cooperative assistance in connection with this investigation leading to Gregor’s apprehension and now his indictment.
The charges referenced above are merely accusations and the press and public are reminded that all defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
R.P.C. 3.6(b)(6).
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